Most Enjoyable Music of 2024

As has become a yuletide custom, I give you a list of the ten albums that I have enjoyed the most in 2024, albums which I have kept coming back to throughout the year. This year I have also added 10 great single releases, so what more could you want?

The value of music, as the value of any art, lies in the eye of the beholder, so my list may not necessarily be equal to your list. Still, I hope it inspires many of you to listen to albums and singles you might otherwise have missed.

80% of of all the listening on Spotify is supposedly to no more than 20% of the tracks available. Which means you are probably missing a lot of good stuff. The whole purpose of my blog is to bring to the forefront new music that wouldn’t normally get the attention it deserves. As my logline says: I hunt the best music so you don’t have to.

Below you will find my final 10. Click on the album or single title, and you will be taken directly to Spotify. I have also put together a separate playlist with the top 10 albums and singles, found HERE:

So, these are my top ten choices of 2024. (Some of the albums might have been released in 2023, but reviewed by me in 2024. )

To see how others review the album, I have added quotes from other blogs and publications.

A Dream Is All We Know – The Lemon Twigs

Overall, it’s a testament to the world-class songwriting of The Lemon Twigs that at no point does the record fall into the realms of ‘too much’. For most, it would be hard to strike that balance, but The Lemon Twigs absolutely master the art of crooning sugary pop-rock in the best of ways.

DIY Magazine

Harlequin – Lady Gaga

Harlequin is a brash and goofy mess that will surely be kryptonite to those who were never willing to buy into her many, many eccentricities. For everyone else, it’s a three-word proclamation: GAGA IS BACK.

SputnicMusic

A Psalm For Emily Salvi – Nerina Pallot

Pallot remains a prized secret to her devoted fans, and one senses that she is happy keeping it that way; that her brief flirtation with mainstream fame was enough to show her the vapid and destructive nature of that narcissistic beast. A Psalm For Emily Salvi is a great addition to the oeuvre that is Pallot’s journey through songwriting.

Louder Than War

Everybody Needs a Hero – Orla Gartland

‘Everybody Needs A Hero ’continues Gartland’s signature storytelling style but pushes her artistry in new intriguing directions, one that is sure to leave fans satisfied.

Clash Music

Wild God – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Wild God is a profound and provocative addition to the substantial Cave canon. It is an audacious, reaching record. It may just be the masterpiece of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ remarkable career.

Pop Matters

In This City They Call Love – Richard Hawley

The album teeters eloquently between introspective folk, twangy roots pop, and bashing psych-rockabilly numbers. Musically, the album is a nice balance of the sounds and influences he’s pursued throughout his career.

AllMusic

Coyote – Dylan LeBlanc

The story arc LeBlanc has stitched into the songs never get in the way of sheer enjoyment of the tunes he’s created. Grand concepts are a tricky move for any artist, but LaBlanc pulls it off with plomb.

Mojo

Mahashmashana – Father John Misty

Mahashmashana is Tillman’s best album yet. It’s hearty. It’s massive. It’s (captain) fantastic.

The Tekegraph (UK)

Bright Future – Adrianne Lenker

A stunning set of songs, this is an album that whispers its impact long after the last note has finished.

Clash Music

The Avett Brothers – The Avett Brothers

They’re back in the studio together, finding profundity in the commonplace, from a cheap cup of coffee to watching an infant’s first steps, on nine songs which range from the acoustic balladry of “Never Apart”, with its banjo and folk harmonies, to the scorching cowpunk of “Love Of AGirl”, via the classic country-rock of “Country Kid” and the plaintive melancholia of “2020 Regret”.

Uncut